The Replacement
by squoctobird
Summary: After Kendall replaces Curt as the lead in the show Big Time Rush, people in the cast and crew start to die in mysterious accidents. Is the new guy a psycho or is Curt out for revenge?  Rated M for violence, gore, language etc.
1. Chapter 1

Curt Hansen, Logan Henderson, Carlos Pena and James Maslow sat on a couch outside of Scott Fellows' office at Paramount Studios. The pilot episode of their new show had been shown to several test groups and sponsors during the past month so they were all a bit anxious to hear the results. The anxiety level rose when Curt was called in to the office alone. They had expected to hear the news as a group. Curt looked at the other three boys and shrugged his shoulders before following Scott into his office.

"Hey, Curt. Have a seat." Scott said shaking the boy's hand. Curt sat down in a black chair across from Scott's desk.

"Cut the bullshit, Scott. Something's up or you would have called us all in here together," he said crossing his arms over his chest.

Scott let out a sigh. There was no easy way to say it. "Curt, we've shown the pilot to several test groups and while we have decided to move forward with the project," he paused a moment, "we've decided to move forward without you."

"What!" Curt shouted as he stood up.

"I'm sorry, Curt. I really am. The test groups just didn't like your character," Scott explained.

Curt was so angry he couldn't form coherent thoughts. He raced out of the office pausing in the frame after opening the door. He turned to look at Scott.

"This is the biggest mistake you've ever made!" he shouted as he pointed angrily at Scott. "You're going to regret this, Fellows. You'll see. You'll be sorry!"

The three boys on the couch watched in shock as Curt stormed out of the studio.

* * *

_1 Year Later_

It was a busy day on the Paramount lot as Kendall Schmidt strolled on to the Big Time Rush set. He had spent several months in the recording studio with his new cast mates, but it was his first day of actual filming. The pilot had been revamped and everything was being re-shot with Kendall in the leading role instead of Curt.

Kendall walked down the hall toward his dressing room, but stuck his head in Logan's room when he noticed the door was open. He saw Logan sitting in front of the mirror with his feet up on the dresser reading a magazine.

"Hey Logan," Kendall greeted.

"Oh, hey Kendall," Logan said looking up from his reading, "How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Just a little nervous, ya know?"

Logan nodded in understanding. He had to admit he was a little nervous himself. This was his second time shooting the pilot. What if this one didn't get picked up either?

After a couple of hours in wardrobe and make up, it was finally time for the cameras to start rolling. James, Logan, and Carlos stood in the interior of the Rocque Records set, waiting for Kendall. Five minutes later he came rushing on set mumbling apologies to everyone.

Despite Kendall's tardiness, everything was going smoothly until the fifth take when Kendall sneezed hard and bumped into James when he almost fell over from the force. James nearly lost his balance but managed to only take a couple of steps backward.

Out of nowhere came a sizzling sound and then a loud crash. Everyone looked on with wide eyes as one of the large lighting units had fallen from the ceiling and landed right in front of James, where he had stood only moments ago.

"Holy shit!" Logan said. "Are you okay, James?"

James stood there speechless looking at the giant light fixture in front of him. It would have badly injured, if not killed, him if it had landed on him.

"James, you're bleeding," Carlos said, concerned.

"Huh?" James was still in a daze, but felt a warm wetness on the side of his face.

"Must have been some of the glass," Logan observed. "You better go see the medic."

The other three boys stayed behind talking and freaking out among themselves as James walked off to see the nurse on site.

"You're lucky," the nurse told him as she treated his wound. "That glass could have gotten in your eyes."

"Or I could have been squashed to death," he added with an uneasy chuckle.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of blue go by the door of the nurse's office. He jumped out of his chair and peeked out the door. He saw a guy with sandy brown hair dart into one of the offices. If James didn't know any better, he would have sworn it was Curt.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the first week of shooting was filled with lots of misfortune. While there were no more near death experiences there were several incidents that hindered filming. Two rolls of film went missing, one of which had footage that had to be re-shot. Random cables and wires were mysteriously cut and frayed. One crew member was nearly electrocuted because of these. The cast and crew alike were starting to think the show was cursed but when there were no incidents during the second week, many let go of the idea. Little did they know this was only beginning.

* * *

It had been six weeks since a stage light nearly killed James and the boys had received word that the pilot had been picked up. The show would start filming episodes the next week. Kendall decided this was the perfect opportunity to throw a party. He had Scott email the cast and crew inviting them to his parents' house that Friday night.

People started to arrive at The Schmidt's residence around 6:00 pm. By 7:00 pm, the place was packed. There was tons of food and an abundant amount of booze. Although some of them were underage, most people just turned a blind eye.

Kendall recognized just about everyone who showed up. Those he did not, he got to know while he went around to say hello to his guests like a good host should. He met Katelyn Tarver who was going to be his love interest in the show, he reacquainted himself with Erin Sanders who had a small part in the pilot but would be returning as a regular, and got to know some of the regular camera-men. As he made his way through the house he scanned the crowd for his best friend and roommate, Dustin Belt.

Dustin and Kendall had grown up together and even had their own band. They'd been making music together for years. The raven shaggy haired boy walked into the party and grabbed a beer before going to find Kendall. He didn't know most of the people there but he instantly recognized Logan who was laughing hysterically at something Kendall had said.

"Hey, Kendall," Dustin greeted as he walked up to the two other boys.

"Dustin!" Kendall responded brightly as he pulled his best friend into a bro-hug. "Glad you made it. Logan, you've met Dustin, haven't you?"

"Uh, I don't think we have actually. Logan. Logan Henderson," he said holding his hand out for a handshake.

"Dustin Belt," he said as he gripped the other boy's hand.

"We were just talking about how exciting it is to start filming next week. You should stop by the set sometime," Logan offered. Dustin just nodded.

"Hey, Ken. Where's your bathroom?" Logan asked. Kendall pointed and gave him directions.

Logan made his way down the hall and just like Kendall said, it was the third door on the left. He locked the door behind him and began to relieve himself. He jumped when someone pounded on the door loudly and he nearly pissed on himself. "Fuck! Someone's in here." He finished his business and started to wash his hands. The handle on the door began to rattle furiously. "Just a minute!" Logan shouted. "Damn." The rattling stopped. He dried his hands and flipped the lock on the door to let himself out, but the door wouldn't open. He attempted to shake the door knob but it still didn't budge. It was obvious someone was holding it on the other side.

"Haha, that's funny," he said sarcastically. He tried the handle again. Nothing. " Seriously, let me out." He pounded on the door. "Kendall? Don't make me kick your ass. You know I can do it!" When he didn't receive an answer he kicked the door in frustration.

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Logan?"

"I think he left."

He looked out the window. Logan's red truck was parked next to Kendall's black Jetta.

"No, he's got to be here. His truck is still outside."

* * *

Logan had tried for about fifteen minutes to get out of the bathroom before he let go and said, "Fuck it." He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest in a big huff. He looked at himself in the mirror with his brow furrowed. He clenched his fists and was about to pound on the door once again, when suddenly it flew open.

And there stood Curt.

"Dude, what the hell?" Logan yelled in his face.

"What?" Curt gave Logan a confused expression.

"You held the door closed, that's what, asshole!" He pushed the other boy hard in the chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Logan. I just got here."

Logan narrowed his eyes. "What are you even doing here, Curt?"

"I was invited. Scott gave me a small semi-recurring role," he explained and then mumbled under his breath, "It was the least he could do."

Logan raised a curious eyebrow.

It was 2:00 am and many people had already left the party. As the crowd continued to thin out, Logan decided he should probably head home as well. He found Kendall, said his good byes and headed out to his truck. He slid inside, cranked it up and popped in an Usher CD.

"I wanna make love in this club. In this club. In this club. In this club."*****

He was speeding down the road singing along with the music when his phone started ringing. He looked over to the seat next to him where he had placed his wallet and cell phone earlier only to find himself staring at an empty seat. He quickly scanned the area and saw his phone blinking on the passenger side floor.

"Shit," Logan swore.

He reached his arm as far as it could go trying to get a hold of his phone. He felt the truck start to slowly drift into the other lane, so he placed both hands back on the wheel to steady the vehicle. He took a couple of deep breaths and reached for the phone again, this time using his knee to steady the wheel. His fingers were just inches away from the phone so he tried sliding over just a little more. This was a huge mistake. The truck drifted into the other lane again, but before Logan could noticed he heard a loud honking noise. He sat straight up and saw another car heading for him head on. Without thinking, he quickly turned the wheel and swerved the truck to the right. He lost control as he pressed on his brake to slow down, but nothing happened. He repeatedly pressed the break but the car showed no sign of stopping. Before Logan knew what was happening his truck went off the road, plowing through a chain link fence and stopping only after making contact with a large tree with a loud crash.

* * *

*** You have no idea how badly I wan't to make Logan sing Lil Freak, but that CD wasn't out until last year. **


	3. Chapter 3

Logan awoke disoriented and surrounded by darkness. His head was throbbing with pain and there was dried blood on his face. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. He saw the deployed airbag, the broken windshield, and a large tree limb that was less than an inch from his face. His phone started ringing, triggering the memories of the accident. Cell phone. Swerving. No brakes. Tree. Tree! Logan looked at the branch again. If it were any closer it would have impaled him during the impact. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought. He was lucky to be alive.

He started eyeing the car for his phone. He had no idea how long he had been sitting here and this wasn't exactly the busiest road so he doubted anyone would be driving by to notice him. He shifted his feet when he felt them bump something. He looked down and saw his cell phone. He cringed slightly as he leaned down to pick it up. He noticed the blinking indicating a missed call. Make that 4 missed calls. All from a blocked number. It was odd, but didn't bother Logan at the time. All he had on his mind was getting some help. He dialed 911.

* * *

Logan was in a hospital bed arguing on his cell phone, much to the doctors' dismay. He had a mild concussion and was being kept for 24 hours for observation. He should be resting, but Logan was raising hell with his car insurance company.

"Driver error, my ass. My brakes didn't work! I demand there be an investigation into this. My truck is practically brand new. I've only had it a year! It's still under the manufacturer's warranty. If the brakes were faulty, they should pay for it!" He let out a frustrated groan as he ended the call.

* * *

Logan arrived to the Paramount lot early on Monday morning after picking up his rental car. The doctors had given him clearance to work and he was excited that everything was going as planned. He would hate for the show to be pushed back, especially because of him. He had all been working so hard on this for over two years and he was ready to hit the ground running.

Filming ran smoothly for the first couple of days, but then things took a turn for the worst. Some of the camera equipment had stopped working and after much investigating they found out the wires and the cords had been tampered with again.

Thomas, an older gentlemen with a long scraggly beard and white, thinning hair was sent to repair the wires. He gathered his tools and his electrical gloves and made his way to the breaker box. He flipped the power off for the area he would be working.

He picked up a large power cord that had been split and frayed. He inspected the small wires within the larger cord. Thomas bent over to dig through his tool box for the correct wire cutter when someone walked up behind him. The older man let out a gasp when he stood up.

"Jesus, kid. You scared me," he said clutching his heart. "You can't do that to an old man like me."

"Sorry."

"Just be careful next time. Wait, you're not even supposed to be in here," Thomas said with annoyance in his voice.

"I just wanted to watch."

He let out a sigh. "Well, I reckon there ain't nothing wrong with that. Just stand over there and don't touch anything! One of these wires could be live and could kill you in seconds."

Thomas went back to working on the frayed wires and about twenty five minutes later he was connecting the broken cord back together. He bent down to retrieve the black electrical tape from his tool box when things became eerily quiet. He stood up and looked around. The boy was gone. Thomas just shook his head as he wrapped the tape around the area, creating a seal.

He pulled out his walkie talkie. "Scott? The wire's patched up. I just have to turn the main power switch and you guys should be good to go!"

Thomas placed his electrical gloves on top of his tool box and walked over to the breaker box. His hand made contact with the metal. Then there was pain. And sizzling. And burning. And uncontrollable shaking as electricity flowed through the man's body until it reached his heart. The shock caused his heart to beat out of rhythm and with in seconds the older man went in to cardiac arrest and fell to the ground dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I personally hate author's notes. Find them annoying. Usually skip them because most people ramble on about shit that's not even relevant. But whatever. I just wanted to say that this part is extremely short. I probably should have been posted it with Chapter 3. But oh well. The next chapter will be much longer.**

* * *

James, Logan and Carlos were on the set of Rocque Records waiting for the cameras' power to be restored when the lights started flickering violently. Carlos let out a loud gasp when one of the light fixtures made a loud pop as the bulbs blew and sparks sprinkled down. Scott immediately called Thomas.

"Hey, Thomas. What was that all about? You're supposed to be fixing things not breaking them," he joked.

No answer. Just static.

"Thomas? Tom, are you okay?"

Static again.

Scott jumped out of his chair and headed towards the electrical department. Through the double door and past several warning signs: RESTRICTED. WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE. CAUTION. He finally reached the main electrical unit and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Thomas' lifeless body on the floor. He slowly approached the body, knowing that the worst was true and wanting to be cautious of any live wires that could be a danger to him.

When he saw the body up close he had to restrain himself from vomiting. Tom's eyes were wide open and had the look of terror. His face was contorted horribly showing the pain he felt as he died. His fingers, hand and the lower part of his arm were singed and burnt black.

The three boys had followed after Scott and started walking towards him and Thomas' body.

"No!" he said loudly with a hand up telling them to stop. "Don't come over here."

They stopped and turned to walking back towards the set. Carlos' curiosity got the best of him. He turned around and strained his neck so he could see. He instantly regretted it. His knees grew weak and his throat was dry. He struggled to catch his balance. He had never seen anything like that before. Once he regained his composure he ran and caught up to the other two.

As they walked, it suddenly occurred to Logan that he hadn't seen Kendall in awhile. "Hey, have you guys seen Kendall?" James and Carlos shook their heads.

Logan went looking for Kendall and found him in his dressing room fiddling with his guitar. "What are you doing?" he asked with a bit of irritation in his voice.

"Nothing?" Kendall said confused. What was up with Logan's attitude?

"Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"You seriously didn't hear that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dude."

"Don't tell me you didn't at least see the lights flickering?"

"Uh, I wasn't really paying attention."

Logan let out a sigh of frustration. "Never mind," he said walking out of the room.

As he made his exit, he saw a pair of wire cutters on Kendall's desk. Logan found it to be a bit odd, but brushed the feeling off. The wire cutter were on the small side so he figured it had something to do with guitar strings. Logan would have asked Kendall but he felt embarrassed. He didn't really know anything about guitars (though he did want to learn). The idea made sense in his head so he dropped it.


	5. Chapter 5

After receiving a few days off because of Thomas' death and funeral, everyone was back on set early Monday morning. Shooting went off without a hitch for the whole week and everyone was excited for the last day of filming. To celebrate, Logan and James decided to go out for dinner. They invited Carlos and Kendall along as well.

"Hey, have you guys been to Astro Burger?" Kendall asked. The three other boys shook their heads. "It's like right across the street and the food is UH-mazing. Dustin and I go there all the time."

"That sounds good," Carlos said and the boys made their way to the restaurant.

Dinner was filled with lots of laughter and immature jokes. It was a bonding experience for all of them, but Kendall and Logan appeared to be the closest. All of the boys were handsy with each other, but it seemed these two couldn't keep their hands off each other during the meal.

As the boys walked back to the lot to get their cars, they split off into pairs. James and Carlos walked ahead discussing nothing in particular while Logan and Kendall lagged behind, chatting and goofing off together. They were in a fit of laughter when Logan stopped abruptly and stopped walking. He looked over his shoulder.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Kendall said, still recovering from laughing.

"Uh, it's probably nothing. I just got a weird feeling that someone was following us. Watching us." Logan tensed up.

Kendall scanned the area behind them. "I don't see anyone?"

"Like I said. It's probably nothing," Logan said, shaking his head. "I'm just being paranoid, I guess."

"Worried about fangirls already?" Kendall joked, starting to laugh again. "Don't worry. I'm sure everyone can agree they'll mostly be after James."

"Because James is just so pretty." Logan snorted and both the boys were laughing just as hard as before, all tension gone.

They reached the parking lot a few minutes later but instead of going to his car after saying good night to Logan, he headed back to the studio.

"What're you doing, Kendall?" Logan shouted in his direction.

"I want to get my guitar!" Kendall said, turning around and walking backwards.

"Oh….. Kay," Logan replied and waved. He stood there a moment watching Kendall walk away. He was confused. He knew for a fact that Kendall had more than one guitar. Plus it was getting late. There wasn't much time to do anything productive before going to bed. Just goofing around really. Logan shook his head as he walked to his car.

* * *

Kendall wandered down the dimly lit hallway humming some Taking Back Sunday. Assuming the studio was empty since it was late, he was in his own little world playing some killer air guitar not paying attention to his surroundings. That's why, when rounding a corner, he was knocked on his butt as someone in a rush collided into him.

"What the hell, man," Kendall said looking up at the man who had knocked him down. "Curt? What are you doing here?"

"I had a late meeting with Scott." Curt reached his hand out to help Kendall stand. "What are _you_ doing here? Filming wrapped hours ago."

"I just forgot something in my dressing room…."

"Aren't the dressing rooms in the opposite direction?"

"Uhm…. Yeah, I guess they are. I must be confused because it's kinda dark in here."

* * *

_The set of the Palm Woods' pool was eerily quiet as he entered the area. He knew what he wanted to do. What he had to do. He grabbed his tool box and slowly made his way up the ladder leading to the catwalk above the sound stage. He walked the path carefully and quietly until he found what he was looking for: a large stage light. Yes, it may be a repeat of his first attempt, but this time was different. This was by the pool. With water. With more people._

_He bent down on one knee and retrieved the tools he would need to execute his plan. Snip a few wires, loosen a few bolts and you have one unstable light fixture. With just the right amount of pressure, it would fall, landing in the pool, electrocuting whoever happened to be unlucky enough to be in the water. A smile crossed his face as he thought of the chaos and the screams of terror from the onlookers._

_His smile quickly faded when he heard footsteps. No one was supposed to be here. He crouched down, hoping not to be noticed. He shifted, trying to get a look at the person who entered the room, knocking his tool box and spilling it's contents. The sound was amplified by the silenc_

"_Who's there?" a voice called._

_Damn it. Maybe if he didn't move he wouldn't be seen and the security guard would just leave. No such luck. A flashlight turned on and began roaming around, looking for the source of the noise. He held his breath as he saw the light fly over him. When the light disappeared, he let out a sigh of relief. _

_His relief was short-lived though, as the sound of footsteps grew closer and soon he felt the cat walk shake lightly as someone climbed the ladder. He saw the light from the flashlight again and a few moments later it was shining right in his face. He held his hand up to block the blinding glare._

"_Hey, I recognize you. You're-"_

"_Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And you're-" Shit. What was this guy's name. Matt? Mark? Mike? It was one the tip of his tongue._

"_Michael, from security. May I ask what you're doing here? The lot should be cleared by this time," Michael asked._

"_Oh. I just like to come up here and think sometimes. Clear my head," he said, convincingly he hoped._

_Michael eyed the boy suspiciously but soon smiled. "Okay. I don't see anything wrong with that, but you really shouldn't be here now. It's dangerous up here. You could get hurt and no one would know. Don't stay much longer." With that Michael turned and started walking towards the ladder to leave._

_The boy gritted his teeth and he bent down to grab something from his tool box. "Hey, Mike!" he called._

_The security guard turned back toward the boy to answer, but a scream of pain left his mouth as he was stabbed in the gut with a large screwdriver. His hands immediately went to the source of his pain. Michael brought his hands up to his face and stared at the blood in disbelief._

"_Why?" Mike was finally able to choke out._

"_Just in the wrong place at the wrong time," the boy said as he wiped the blood off the screw driver. The boy walked closer to the security guard. "I like ya, Mike. I really do, but no one can know I was here tonight." And with that, he pushed the older man off the edge of the catwalk. _

_Michael's scream echoed through the soundstage as he fell to his death. His body landed with a crack and an unnerving squish as it made contact with a closed table umbrella. The speed of the impact allowed the umbrella to pierce through his flesh and bone. The tip stuck through his chest, cover with blood, lung and bone. Michael had died instantly. The room was silent again, minus the sick sound of Mike's body slowly sliding down the umbrella. _

_The boy looked down at the body below with a grin on his face._

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Hope you have enjoyed this chapter. So far this is my favorite. =D**

**Does anyone think they've figured out who the killer is?**


	6. Chapter 6

Logan walked on the set of Big Time Rush Monday morning and did a double take. There were several men in police uniforms. Yellow police tape. People snapping photos. Was he on the wrong lot? Did he enter the wrong soundstage? Was this the set of CSI?

He saw James off to the side, just staring at the display before him. "What happened?" he asked the taller boy.

"Someone was killed here this weekend. They say it's pretty brutal," James said still staring.

"Was it another accident?"

James shook his head. "This was definitely not an accident."

* * *

Production was shut down for the day, but several members of the crew as well as the four boys had been asked to stay. The young stars had gathered in James' dressing room, playing XBOX to pass the time. After several hours there was a firm yet polite knock at the door.

"Come in," James said, not moving from his place on the couch.

The door opened and in walked a woman in her early thirties, her auburn hair pulled back into a bun. She was dressed in a well-fitting suit jacket that matched her black pinstripe pants. The white shirt underneath was unbuttoned just low enough to tease. Behind her was a tall, muscular black man dressed in a dark blue button up with a black tie.

She had a warm smile on her face as she pulled out her badge to begin her introduction. "I'm Detective Jamie Watson, and this is my partner Detective Jarrad-"

"Holmes?" Kendall asked with a smirk. The other boys snickered quietly.

Jamie shot him a sideways glance. Like she had never heard that one before. She cleared her throat and continued. "My partner Detective Jarrad Rain. Now I assume you are Logan Henderson, James Maslow, Kendall Schmidt, and Carlos Pena?"

The boys nodded.

"I'm sure you are aware of the death of security officer Michael Owens," She didn't wait for their response. "It's apparent this wasn't an accident and we believe that the other incidents on set weren't either."

"What exactly are you saying?" Logan asked.

"You had a car accident recently, did you not, Mr. Henderson?" Jarrad said, speaking for the first.

Logan was caught a bit off guard so he stuttered at first. "I- uh. I mean, yeah. I ran off the road because my brakes went out several weeks ago."

"Well, along with your insurance carrier, we have found that your brakes didn't just 'give out.' They were cut."

Logan's eyes went wide. "They were cut? You mean someone was trying to kill me?" He choked on the words.

"Yes," Jamie said. "Actually, we believe you are all in danger. Someone is out to harm the cast and crew of this production and has succeeded twice."

"Twice?" Carlos asked.

"Yes. Michael Owens, and the man who was electrocuted, Thomas Jenkins. It was hard to find, but someone cut some small wires in the breaker box," Jarrad answered.

"Starting immediately there will be officers on set at all times and also an officer assigned to keep an eye on you while at home," Jamie explained. The boys exchanged worried glances. "And don't worry boys. You'll be safe."

* * *

Kendall entered the apartment he shared with his best friend Dustin. He hung his keys on the hook near the door and entered the living room area to see his roommate on the couch with his arms crossed. He was obviously upset. Kendall raised a curious eyebrow.

"Do you not know how to answer your phone anymore?" Dustin all but yelled.

"What are you talking about Dustin?"

"I came by the studio today and they wouldn't let me in! I tried calling you, but you never picked up!"

Kendall pulled his phone out of his pocket, touching the screen to bring it out of sleep mode, only it didn't. "Sorry, dude. Looks like my phone died."

Dustin stood up, an irritated scoff leaving his mouth. "That's no excuse. You knew I was coming today. Didn't you notice that I didn't show up?"

"Dustin, I-" Kendall started.

"You forgot didn't you?"

Kendall nodded. Dustin stormed off to his bedroom and slammed the door shut making Kendall cringe. He walked over and tried to open the door. It was locked.

"Dustin? Dustin, let me in. I can explain," he said through the door. No answer. "I'm sorry I forgot. Some serious shit went down today, dude. Open the door. Please?"

There was some shuffling on the other side and soon the door opened. Dustin headed back to the living room and flopped down on the couch, arms crossed again. He looked over to Kendall who had sat down beside him. "Okay, enlighten me."

Kendall explained to him about the visit from the police and how there was now extra security on the lot. Things would be extra strict from now on. "But I'll make sure you're on the okay list, alright Dbelt?"

The dark haired boy nodded as he stood to peer out the window. He noticed a burgundy Crown Victoria parked on the street outside, most likely the unmarked police car that was there to protect Kendall.

Kendall looked at his best friend. He wasn't sure why Dustin had gotten so angry but he wanted to make it up to him. The next time he had a few days off, he would have to make sure to do something special.

* * *

_He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. After the news he received today he was fuming. Production of Big Time Rush was going to continue! So far his plan hasn't worked. Two deaths and they couldn't take the hint? He obviously needed to up his game. But now was not the time. Any future attempts would be thwarted by the upped security. He even had a policeman stationed at his house. He would have to lay low for awhile. Yeah. That's what he would do. He'd stop for now. Just long enough for the cops to back off. Lull them all in to a false sense of security and then strike when they least expected it. His anger subsided and a smile came across his face. He could wait. Waiting wasn't so bad. He just needed patience. Patience was a virtue after all._


	7. Chapter 7

Having lots of security on set was awkward at first, but the cast and crew grew accustomed to it. Not that they had much free time to begin with, but when they weren't filming the stars chose to stay at home rather than going out with a security detail close by.

It had been about a month of this and Kendall was growing very antsy. He was tired of being cooped up and decided on his next day off he was getting out of the apartment.

It was Friday night and Kendall had a huge grin on his face. The next day he was finally getting out of the house and he was going to do something special for his friend, Dustin. He waited in the kitchen for his roommate to get out of the shower.

"What are you grinning about?" The dark-haired boy asked as he sat down at the counter.

Kendall ignored the question. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing?" Dustin could tell something was up, but he wasn't sure what.

"Think again, Dbelt. We're going to Disneyland!" Kendall said, trying his best not to squeal. He knew how much his best friend loved 'the happiest place on earth.'

"What?"

"I'm. Taking. You. To. Disneyland."

Dustin's eyes lit up. He may be a 20 year old hipster, but he fucking loved Disneyland. This was going to be a great weekend.

* * *

The next morning the two boys woke up early to get ready. Dustin wanted to get to the park before it became too crowded and they would have to wait in those long ass lines. Also, tradition dictated they would have breakfast at the Denny's near the park.

He looked at the clock and saw the time. Dustin was about to yell at Kendall to hurry up because they needed to leave soon when he heard a knock at the door. His eyebrows furrowed together trying to think of who could be stopping by this early. He opened the door and was surprised to see….

"Logan. What are you doing here?"

Before the shorter boy could answer, Kendall appeared from around the corner. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. I invited Logan along. You know he's from Texas. He's never been to Disneyland before."

"Oh. Well, the more the merrier, right?" Dustin said without much enthusiasm. It would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed. They hadn't had much 'bro time' the past few months and he was looking forward to hanging out with Kendall one on one.

Logan just smiled brightly. "So, are you guys ready to go or?"

"Yeah, I'm totally ready. How about you Dbelt?"

Dustin nodded and the three boys loaded up in Kendall's Jetta, Logan sitting in the back seat and Dustin up front by his best friend and headed on their way.

* * *

Things were pleasant most of the day. Lots of laughs were had on the drive over and they all enjoyed their breakfast at Denny's. The rides were great as usual and then of course there was the food; the funnel cakes, the turkey legs and everything that truly made this the happiest place on earth. Dustin was feeling great. That was until he looked at the photos of the trip.

He scanned through the 50 or so photos that were taken with his digital camera and every one that included Kendall and Logan made him grow more and more angry. In each photo, the two boys had their arms around each other, and standing awkwardly beside them was Dustin. He looked like a third wheel. This was his and Kendall's day, not Logan's. Dustin huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He furrowed his brow and pulled up the menu screen on his camera. He pushed a few buttons and hesitated only a moment before selecting DELETE ALL. Seconds later, Kendall entered the room.

"How did the photos come out?"

"There was an error with my data card and none of the pictures saved," he lied.

"That's too bad. I know we took some awesome pictures."

"Yeah," was all he could say.

"Luckily, we still have this one!" Kendall said brightly as he handed the photo to Dustin.

As the dark hair boy looked at the photo, anger boiled in him once more. He bit his tongue to hold back the growl that threatened to escape his mouth. It was the park photo from Splash Mountain. In the front seat sat Logan and Kendall, huge smiles on their faces, while Dustin sat behind them looking pathetic and alone.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Just a heads up. This chapter really lives up to the M rating. My beta was pretty disturbed by it, actually. It's probably the most brutal, violent thing I've yet to write. If you think you might want to skip it, then don't read the last italicized part. Just look at the A/N at the end where I will sum it up that section in a couple of sentences.**

* * *

_He sat on the couch in his apartment thinking. He knew the police were watching, but little did they know he was watching too. Watching and waiting. Sooner or later they'd make a mistake, back off and leave them all vulnerable. And that's when he would go back to work. That's when he would make them pay. Make them all pay._

* * *

Curt pulled into the Paramount parking lot in his black Honda Civic with a smile on his face. Scott was finally keeping the promise they had agreed on. Although Curt wouldn't have too many scenes as Dak Zevon, his character would play a large role in one of the plots of the episode. He would make a few other appearances in future episodes, and his character name would be mentioned often. Dak Zevon: the Big Time Rush version of Zac Efron.

He walked on set and was greeted by one of the security guards who checked his ID against the names on the approved guests list. He was patted down and scanned with a hand-held metal detector. When he was finally cleared to enter he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yeah, it sucks at first, but you'll get used to it."

Curt looked towards the voice to see Carlos standing nearby. He smiled at the familiar face. "I don't know how you guys have been putting up with this. I'm still annoyed with the guy hanging out at my place," he said with a chuckle. "How long are they going to keep this up?"

Carlos shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably when they arrest the guy or whoever did this. I hope it's soon though." Curt nodded and the two boys walked towards the dressing rooms.

* * *

It was Friday afternoon and filming had wrapped early. Everyone was excited to get a few extra hours added to their weekend and was rushing to leave the set.

"Hey, Carlos," James called after the Latino before he could leave.

"What's up James?"

"Have you seen, Logan? I needed to talk to him before he left. He's not in his dressing room."

"Oh. He went off with Kendall a little while ago. I'm not sure where they went though."

"Hmmm. I'll just text him, I guess," James said dejectedly. "Thanks, Carlos," he mumbled as he walked off playing with his phone.

* * *

_Two boys entered an empty office. The one clad in Vans quietly closed the door, locking it. The other in a white V-neck turned around to face him._

"_What did you want to talk about?" he asked._

"_It wasn't so much that I wanted to talk about something. I wanted to tell you something. To give you a message," the boy in the Vans answered coolly. _

_The boy in white gave the other a confused look. "Oh-kay?" There was an awkward silence. "Well? Tell me what you wanted to tell me"_

_The boy looked down at his Vans and reached in his jacket pocket gripping the object that waited there. He slowly raised his head, a sneer plastered across his face. _

_Before the other boy had time to react to this change in mood, he was tackled to the ground by the boy wearing Vans. He pulled his hand from his pocket, raising the screw driver high in the air before swiftly bringing it down and stabbing the other boy in the neck._

_Blood spurted out, quickly turning his white shirt red. He brought his hand up to try and stop the bleeding, but it was in vain because the boy in Vans had struck an artery. He attempted to scream but nothing audible came from his mouth. He looked up at the boy who had struck him with confusion, his eyes asking why._

"_Don't look at me like that. You brought this on yourself.," he yelled as he stood up. He started kicking the boy on the ground, taking a sick satisfaction in the sound made by his Vans as they broke the dying man's ribs. "This. Is. All. Your. Fault." He emphasized each word with a hard kick. Even after the boy with the blood stained shirt was clearly dead, he continued kicking. _

"_You ruined everything!" he shouted falling to his knees beside the body. He was overcome with rage. He raised the screw driver once again, bringing it down harshly into the lifeless boy's chest. He raised it again and brought it down again. He continued this over and over, the motion becoming more and more erratic with each thrust. _

_He was sobbing now, shaking hard, causing him to drop the screw driver next to the body. Tears rained down his cheeks, mixing with the blood splattered on is face. He wrapped his arms around his torso, hugging himself. He squeezed himself tightly, trying to control his breathing. _

_It took several minutes but the boy in Vans finally calmed himself down. His sobs were only slight hiccups now and he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his jacket. He took a deep breath and raised his hand to wipe his tear stained cheeks, but only smeared more blood on his face. He stood up looking down at his handiwork. _

_"I fucking hate you."_

* * *

**A/N - So here's what happened for those of you that skipped it the last part. A boy wearing Vans stabbed and killed a boy wearing a white v-neck shirt. The boy in Vans screams: "This is all your fault" and "You ruined everything." Both identities are left unknown.**


	9. Chapter 9

Jordan Wagner entered the Paramount lot early on Monday morning. Everyone had left early on Friday, even the cleaning crew, so he was there to make sure that all the trash had been taken out. He was tired as he sipped his coffee and grumbled as he was searched by security. Normally Jordan would never be at work this early, but if it meant he was able to have dinner with his family that Friday then he wouldn't complain.

Once he made it through security Jordan went straight to work. He grabbed his large janitor cart and pushed it down the hall of dressing rooms and offices. He pulled the small trash can out of each room, dumping it's contents in the large one on his cart. As he emptied the trash from an office near the end of the hall, he heard a thud as something fell to the floor.

Jordan looked down to see a screwdriver by his feet. He bent down to pick up the object when he noticed a red substance dried on the handle and the metal shaft of the tool. He brought it to his face to inspect it closer. Must be fake blood, he thought to himself. A foul smell entered his nostrils. A smell he couldn't quite place, but it definitely was not the sweet, sugary smell of the Karo syrup blood that was commonly used. Something was horribly wrong with this situation. He dropped the tool suddenly as the realization hit him. This wasn't fake blood. This was real blood.

* * *

"Yeah. Okay. We'll be right there," Jamie said into her cell phone before closing it and placing it back in her pocket. "Jarrad!" she yelled across the room to her partner who was filling his coffee cup, "We've found a potential murder weapon. We need to go. Now."

The police didn't have much to support the case after a month and half of investigating. So far they only had minimal evidence: the cut wires of the breaker box and Logan's severed brakes. There had been no fingerprints to go on and they hadn't found the weapon used to stab Mike before he fell to his death. But it looked like that was about to change. A large screw driver had been found with blood and was currently in the lab being tested.

Detectives Watson and Rain entered the police lab and were greeted by a technician named Keith Saunders. "Hello Detectives."

"Keith, please tell me you've got something?" Jamie asked.

He pulled out the plastic evidence bag with the screwdriver inside and handed it over to her. "We have confirmed that this was the murder weapon used on Michael Owens. It matches the wound and we found traces of his blood."

"Any fingerprints?" Jarrad spoke this time.

"Yes, actually. We found two partials and a thumb print. We're currently running them through the system to see if we get any matches."

"That's great. Hopefully we'll get a hit. We could really use a break in this case." Jamie crossed her arms over her chest.

"There's more," Keith said. "We found another set of DNA on the screw driver."

Both Jarrad and Jamie perked up hearing this.

"So far there hasn't been a match on it, but I'll let you know when we do. This could potentially be the blood of the suspect, but I would say that it's another victim more than likely."

"Why do you say that?" the red head asked.

"By the amount of the blood we found, but there's no way to know for sure at this time."

Jamie bit the bottom of her lip, deep in thought. They hadn't received any reports of any more accidents on the set of Big Time Rush, so who could this other victim be? Before she could even contemplate an answer, she was brought out of her thoughts by a beeping noise.

"Looks like we have a match on the fingerprints," Keith said walking towards the computer.

* * *

Katelyn Tarver smiled as she sat in her dressing room waiting to be called to set. She only had a few scenes and they were all that morning. She would be out of there by lunchtime and would be able to spend time with her boyfriend David Blaise who was going on tour with his band soon.

"Someone's in a good mood," Erin Sanders said as she popped her head into the room. "Looking forward to the rest of the week?"

"Oh, definitely," Katelyn replied. "As soon as I'm out of here, it's snuggle time with the boyfriend."

"Snuggle time. Right." Erin said, playfully winking at her.

Katelyn laughs and decided to have a little fun with Erin. "So, what are you and your 'best friend' Stephen doing this weekend?" She used air quotes when saying best friend, knowing there was a little more going on between the two than just friendship, no matter how much the brunette denied it.

She shot the blonde a sideways glance. "Shut up," she said trying to sound offended, but soon burst out laughing. Katelyn quickly joined her.

"Come on. We better get down to set," she said standing up.

-break

"Are you serious?" Detective Jamie Watson said looking at the name the fingerprints had been matched with. "Are you fucking serious? He doesn't seem like the type. Does he have any priors?"

Keith pushed a few buttons bringing up the suspect's history. "Looks like he was arrested when he was 18 for disorderly conduct. He was at a PETA protest and things got out of hand. The charges were dropped though. Other than a couple of parking tickets, this kid has a pretty clean rap."

Jamie pulled out her cell and called officer Frank Surles. It rang twice before he answered.

"Surles."

"Frank, it's Jamie. You still on watch at Curt Hansen's house?"

"Yeah, been here all weekend."

"Okay. We've gotten some new evidence and we need to question him. Do you think you can bring him in?"

* * *

Katelyn had finished her last scene of the day and was fixing her make up before leaving. She rummaged around in her purse for some lip gloss but dropped it when she saw a figure in her mirror.

"You scared the shit out of me!" she exclaimed, clutching her heart for effect.

"Sorry," he said with a smile.

"It's no big deal. What are you even doing here? I wasn't expecting you to be on set today."

"Yeah, well I wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone. You know how it can be with the security outside of your house."

She nodded in agreement.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, I'm going to be leaving soon so…." She was politely asking him to leave.

But he didn't leave. He just stood there.

Katelyn gave him an odd look as she turned around to leave, but he closed the door. He stood there, blocking her exit.

She let out a sarcastic laugh. "I don't have time for goofing around right now."

"Neither do I," he said as he reached for the guitar string in his pocket. He grabbed a hold of either side, wrapping the ends around his hand. He quickly came up behind her, raising his arms up to bring the string around her throat. He pulled back towards himself tightly.

Katelyn tried to scream, but she did not have any air. Her windpipe was being restricted. She brought her hands up, clawing at the wire around her neck. This pissed the boy off, making him pull tighter causing the guitar string to cut the skin. A thin layer of blood trickled down her neck

She felt light headed and could feel herself slipping away into darkness. She tried her best to fight it, eyes opening wide before slowly closing. Her arms fell limply to her sides and her struggle was over. She was dead.

* * *

Erin sat down at a small picnic table outside of the studio across from James who was eating a salad. He looked up at her with a smile.

"Where's Katelyn? You guys are usually connected at the hip."

"She left already. Her last scene of the day was about thirty minutes ago." Erin told him.

* * *

"What do you mean he's not there?" Jamie yelled in her phone. "He was supposed to be under your watch."

Frank held his phone away from his ear in attempt to stifle the sound of the voice on the other side of the phone. "He's not here, Watson. I don't know what happened. We followed his car here Friday night and we haven't seen anyone come or go since. Even his car is still here! I don't know how we missed him."

Jamie growled as she slammed the phone down on her desk. "Jarrad!"

Jarrad came running over. "What's going on?

"Put out an APB on Curt Hansen. He's currently our number one suspect and he's missing. We need to find him before he murders again."


	10. Chapter 10

After a week of searching for Curt, Jamie was ready to pull her hair out. There wasn't a single clue as to where this boy could be. Not even the smallest blip on the radar. They searched his house and it didn't appear that he had taken anything with him. The search of his car didn't result in anything useful either. There were no hits on his credit cards or his bank account and trying to get a lock on his cell phone's GPS seemed impossible. It was like he had just disappeared.

* * *

Dustin pulled up at the Schmidt house with a smile on his face. The blonde was spending the weekend at his parent's house but had invited Dustin to join him. He was looking forward to chilling with Kendall and his brother Kevin.

He knocked on the front door and was greeted by a smiling Kevin.

"Hey Dustin. Haven't see you in awhile, man," he said as he engulfed the dark haired boy in a hug.

"Yeah. Well, you know…" he shrugged.

_Don't say a word just come over and lie here with me_

_Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see_

"What's-" Dustin started to ask, but was quickly shushed by Kevin.

_I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe_

_There I just said it. I'm scared you'll forget about me_

The two boys walked in silence until they reached the room at the end of the hall. As soon as he entered the room Dustin noticed the guitar in Kendall's hand and the mic stands. He was recording a song.

_So young and full of running, all the way to the edge of desire._

_Steady my breathing. Silently screaming. I have to have you now._

Dustin's ears perked up at the sound of a different voice.

_Wired. And I'm tired. Think I'll sleep in my clothes on the floor._

_Baby this mattress. Will spin on it's axis. And find me on yours._

It was Logan.

He stood there watching with his arms crossed over his chest. He was definitely not happy about this but tried to smile whenever Kendall made eye contact with him.

When the song was over Kendall jumped up and he ran up to his best friend pulling him into a bro hug. "Glad you made it, Dustin! Now that we have an even number we can play teams."

The four boys gathered in the living room to play xbox on the big screen tv. After an hour of playing Halo capture the flag, they decided the weather outside was too amazing to pass up. It was a gorgeous sunny day in LA but it wasn't too hot.

"Why don't we play a game of touch football?" Kevin suggested.

"Great idea! It'll be me and Logan against you and Dustin," Kendall said. He ran into the garage and grabbed an old football.

They set up the game in the backyard and after about thirty minutes Kevin and Dustin were losing with an embarrassing seven touchdowns to zero. Kendall and Logan were playing defense and successfully stopped Kevin from scoring a touch down. The two high-fived each other laughing as they set up to play offense.

Dustin sneered at Logan as he hiked the ball to Kendall. The blonde ran towards the goal when he saw Kevin headed for him.

"Logan!" Kendall yelled before throwing the ball to him.

Logan caught it and sped off towards the goal. Dustin was close on his tail but not quite close enough to get the touch to end the play. Instead, Dustin pushed off his feet and tackled Logan harshly. Dustin stood up and raised his hands in celebration.

Logan flipped himself over and sat up on his elbows, catching his breath. He shot Kendall a look saying _What the hell was that? _Kendall shrugged and shook his head _I have no idea _. Logan stood up and limped over to Kendall. His knee was scrapped pretty badly when he fell.

"Kendall. I don't really feel like playing anymore. I think I'm gonna go home," Logan said as he shot a dirty look in Dustin's direction. The other boy just smirked.

"You okay, Logan? Do you need any hel-"

Logan interrupted him. "No, I'm fine. I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

Kendall just nodded as Logan went inside to grab his things.

Kendall turned to Dustin as soon as Logan was out of site. "What the fuck was that man?"

"What? Your buddy can't handle a little horseplay?"

"Dude, you were way too rough. It was touch football and you fucking tackled him."

"You know how competitive I get, Kendall. Especially when I'm losing," Dustin explained. "I just got a little carried away."

"No. You ruined that game- that's what you did." Kendall shook his head with disappointment and walked back towards the house.

_Of course he took Logan's side, _Dustin thought to himself as he watched his best friend walk away. "Maybe I should leave too."

* * *

"Jaaaaaames," Carlos whined as he stood next to the taller boy who was jogging on a treadmill, "When are you going to be finished? I'm ready to shower and get out of here."

"Just give me like five more minutes, Carlos. I want to get in at least two miles."

The Latino just stood there waiting.

"You could go ahead and shower if you want," James suggested. Carlos looked bored.

"Yeah, I guess. Just don't take too long!" And with that he headed into the male locker room of the gym.

He was already feeling sore as the hot water cascaded down his body. Carlos used to think that he worked out a lot, but that was before he met James. He was super focused and had this complex work out regimen that Carlos struggled to keep up with.

Carlos was in the shower longer than he realized because he saw James with his hair wet and a towel around his waist as he walked over to his locker to grab his clothes. When they were both dressed, the two boys made their way down to the parking deck to retrieve their cars.

James nearly tripped when his shoe came untied. He stopped, bending down to fix the laces when he was nearly blinded by a bright light. He raised his hand up to block the glare trying to see the source of the light. James thought it was a car, but it wasn't until he heard the engine rev up that he knew for sure. He heard the wheels spin out and the engine roar louder as it sped forward heading straight for Carlos.

Carlos heard the noise and turned his head only to be blinded by the head lights. He saw the car speeding towards him and froze in fear. He was literally a deer in headlights. He couldn't think. He wanted to run, but he was petrified. Knowing that impact was inevitable, he tried to brace himself for the pain he knew would come.

But instead of making contact with the car, he felt a pair of strong hands grab his shoulders and push him hard. He fell, but was out of the path of the car. Before Carlos could even compute what had happened he heard a crash, a scream and the sound of the car quickly backing up and pealing out of the parking garage.

Carlos was in a daze and shook his head to clear his mind. Then he saw him.

"James!" Carlos screamed as he ran over to the boy that had saved his life.

James was bloody and broken. He was breathing although it was labored. He was unconscious but that didn't stop Carlos from speaking to him.

"You're going to be alright buddy. James, it's going to be okay." Carlos continued to speak comforting words to James, although it was more for his benefit than the injured boy, as he pulled out his phone to call 911. After he was told an ambulance would be on the way, he ended the call. "They're coming, James. Just hold on. Help is on the way." Carlos couldn't hold his sobs in any longer.


	11. Chapter 11

Carlos sat in an uncomfortable chair next to a hospital bed. A hospital bed where his cast mate, band mate and more importantly his friend was laying. Carlos was determined not to leave his side and held his hand tightly. James had saved him. He knew it should be him laying in this bed, not James. He was lucky to be alive, but unfortunately James was just barely. When the car struck him, he suffered severe head trauma and was now in a coma. The doctors weren't sure when he would wake, if he would even wake at all.

There was a light knock at the door and Carlos quickly wiped the tears from his eyes before telling them to come in. The door opened slowly, revealing Logan and Kendall.

"Hey, Carlos," Logan said softly as he entered the room. Carlos returned the greeting, although it was barely audible.

"How's he doing?" Kendall asked.

Carlos cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, they say he's stable, but the swelling in his brain is pretty bad. They're not sure when he's going to wake up." The other two boys nodded in understanding.

"Have you called his dad?" the blond asked.

"Yeah. He's on his way. It takes a couple of hours to get here from San Diego. We're all he has for now."

The room grew silent and the only sound heard was the beeping of James' heart monitor, at least until all three boy's cell phones went off at the same time indicating they each had a test message.

**Meet me at the studio and I will explain everything. No police! -Curt**

Just then Dustin entered the room with four coffees in one hand and a cell phone out in the other. "Uh guys, did anyone else receive a text from Curt?"

* * *

Jarrad was sitting at his desk drinking a cup of coffee, looking over the case file in hopes of finding some piece of information that may lead them to Curt. Maybe they had missed something. Anything. Just a clue that would break the case. They needed something- and soon. Jarrad and Jamie had been working longer and longer days trying to break this case and it was wearing on both of them. She had been working lead and he had to force her to go home and get some rest. He promised to hold down the fort while she was gone.

It seemed like it was going to be another evening of scrutinizing the current evidence when his office phone rang.

"Detective Rainn ….. Really? … Great … We'll be there soon."

He hung up the phone and let out a small chuckle as he pulled on his suit jacket. As he walked into the hall he pulled out his cell. "Jamie? We finally got a hit on Hansen's cell phone. Meet me in the telecommunications lab."

* * *

"You can't possibly think this is a good idea," Kendall said to Logan. "The police thinks he wants us dead and you want to just go over to the empty studio and talk to him? Sounds a little too shady for me." Kendall crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"Kendall, you don't know Curt like I do. I mean, we've grown apart since he was fired but I spent a lot of time with him before that. He and I were the first ones hired. I just find it hard to believe he's the one behind this." Logan said.

"Maybe Logan's right, Kendall." Dustin said.

Logan shot him a questioning look. He couldn't believe Dustin of all people was agreeing with him. Kendall couldn't believe it, either. Dustin always had his back.

"Carlos, you've been quiet. You've known Curt about as long as I have. What do you think we should do?" Logan said as he turned toward the Latino.

"Honestly, I don't care what you guys do. I'm not leaving James," he said curtly.

"Looks like you're out-numbered Kendall," Logan said with a sigh. "But do whatever you want. I know Curt didn't do this so I have to go. I have to give him that chance."

"I'm not going to let you go alone," Dustin said as he placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. Once again Logan was really surprised for Dustin's support. He was positive the boy didn't like him.

"Oh. No, it's fine Dustin."

"No. You say you know Curt, but what if you're wrong? Better safe than sorry. Going alone is definitely not safe."

He hated to admit it, but the other boy was right. "Fine. Let's go."

Dustin and Logan were halfway down the hall when they heard someone yell "Wait!" They turned their heads to see Kendall awkwardly jogging to catch up with them. "I'm coming with you. I can't let my two best friends go off and do something stupid without me."

Logan started to laugh a little and Kendall gave him an odd look. "What's so funny?"

"You sound like you're channeling Kendall Knight right now."

Kendall shoved him playfully. "Shut up."

* * *

Logan and Kendall walked up to the main door to the studio with Dustin lagging shortly behind them. They were about to enter when Kendall noticed a gun in his hands.

"Dustin! What the fuck, dude?"

"I figured we should have some protection," he said with a shrug.

"Where did you even get one?" Kendall didn't know that his friend owned one. He had certainly never seen it before.

"It's not a big deal, Kendall. It's perfectly legal."

Kendall just shook his head. "Fine. Whatever. Let's get this over with, okay?"

He pushed the door open and the three boys entered the darkened hallway that lead to the dressing rooms. And it was really dark, they couldn't see what was in front of them at all. Logan reached out and placed his hand on Kendall's shoulder so they could stay together. He was about to instruct Dustin to do the same when he heard a click from behind him.

"Did you guys hear that?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"Yeah," Kendall said. "It sounded like a lock."

He blindly turned back towards the door and tried to pull it open. It wouldn't budge. "Um, guys. It looks like we're locked in."

"What?" Logan said as he tried the door himself. "I can't believe this."

"I told you this was a bad idea," Kendall said.

"Are you really going to go there right now?" Logan asked with annoyance.

"Logan's right. We don't have time to fight. Something is obviously wrong. We need to find a way out of here," Dustin said agreeing with Logan for the second time that night.

* * *

"What do you have for us, Sammy?" Jarrad asked the leggy blonde that worked in the telecommunications lab.

"Well, like I said on the phone we picked up cell phone activity for Curt Hansen's phone. We had already set up a ping, but until now we had nothing. Most likely the phone had been turned off."

"Okay, so what does that mean exactly?" Jamie asked.

"We were able to locate the cell tower that was last used for his cell's signal and that's all we have for now. It would be easier to triangulate his position though if he was actually making a call."

Jamie nodded. "So where was his last signal?"

Sammy pointed at her computer screen. "Right here."

"That's near Cedars-Sinai Hospital," Jarrad said. "Isn't that where they took James Maslow?"

"Yeah. Call the hospital and have security sent to his room until we can get there," Jamie said already walking towards the exit. "Curt may be there to finish what he started."

Jarrad followed after his partner pulling out his cell as he walked. "Thanks, Sammy!" he called over his shoulder, "Call us when you get a lock on his location."

* * *

Logan walked alone in a dark hallway, feeling his way along the wall looking for a way out. Normally he wouldn't be one to be afraid of the dark, but this was different than being alone in bed. He was locked in the studio with a potential killer. His gut told him it wasn't Curt, but he couldn't help the uneasy feeling that crept up his spine. Something was definitely wrong with the current picture.

"Splitting up was stupid," he said with a sigh to no one in particular as he continued down the hall. He reached another, door twisting the knob cursing when this one was also locked. "Fuck."

He continued feeling along the wall when he heard someone coming down the hall. They were running. Logan wanted to hide but he had no where to go. Then he remembered how dark it was. If he couldn't see who was coming, they couldn't see him either. So he stood there, waiting for the person to run by, hoping they wouldn't notice him.

His plan would have worked if the unknown person was running down the middle of the hallway, but unfortunately the mystery man was running over to the right. He slammed into Logan, knocking them both down.

Logan screamed, "No! Please don't kill me! Please, no!" He was silenced when the other's hand covered his mouth.

"Shhhhh. Logan, it's me."

"Dustin?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell are you doing? You scared the shit out of me!"

"I know, sorry." He stood up and then pulled Logan up as well. "But Kendall's been hurt. I don't know what to do."


	12. Chapter 12

It's the phone call that every parent dreads. 'Your son has been in an accident.' David Maslow was in his car and on the way to LA before he even got off the phone with Carlos. He did his best to maintain his composure during the drive but he was a mess once he saw his only son in that hospital bed. James was a pitiful sight. His head was bandaged. An arm and a leg were in casts. He had several tubes and wires hooked to him. It was enough to make even the strongest man cry. Carlos offered his chair to David when he arrived and left him to have some alone time with James. As the Latino left the room he was confronted by the police.

"Detective Watson, what are you doing here?"

"We have reason to believe that Curt was here or may still be here. We picked up a signal on his cell phone. Have you seen or heard anything suspicious?"

Carlos was torn. Should he tell the police about the text message? It specifically said 'No Police.' What if telling them made everything worse? So Carlos lied to the police. He hoped it was the right decision.

He pulled out his cell and stared at the message. Still filled with uncertainty, he decided to give Logan a call. Logan would know what to do. When he didn't answer, Carlos had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Maybe he should reconsider telling the police about the text message

* * *

Dustin grabbed Logan by the wrist and dragged him down the hall. "What happened to Kendall?" Logan asked as they made their way to his location.

Dustin tightened his grip on Logan's wrist. "I'm not sure. I just found him unconscious."

"We should probably grab a first aid kit on the way," he said as he tried to pull away from Dustin, but his grip grew even tighter. "Ow. Let go, dude. You're hurting me."

"Don't be such a pussy, Logan." His words were laced with venom as he spoke.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. The change in Dustin's demeanor didn't sit right with him. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Dustin had made it pretty clear in the past that he didn't like Logan, but there was something more than just dislike behind those words. He wasn't sure what it was. All he knew was he had to get out of there.

Without hesitation, Logan roughly pulled himself from Dustin's grasp and ran. He needed a place to hide and collect his thoughts. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions but he suddenly did not feel safe around the other boy.

As he ran, he once again let his hand brush against the wall. Much to his relief, the slightly rough texture of drywall changed to something cold and smooth. A door. He desperately grabbed a hold of the knob and silently thanked God that it was unlocked. He jumped in the closet and closed the door as quietly as he could.

Logan kept his hand on the knob as he tried to steady his frantic breathing. Hiding would do him no good if he was breathing loud enough for Dustin to hear him. Once he had just calmed down enough to think clearly, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his cell phone going off. He whipped the phone out of his pocket trying to silence it, but the damage had been done.

The door knob turned and the door opened. Logan dropped his cell phone from shock and instinctively backed away in fear. He was expecting to make contact with the wall, but instead found himself backed against something lumpy. He felt cloth and something sticky. He brought his hand to his face trying to identify the substance. Blood.

Logan gasped and quickly jumped away and into a storage shelf. When he knocked it over, it's contents fell loudly to the floor. Logan's eyes grew wide when he saw what else had fallen. Two bloody bodies wrapped in sheets lay on the ground. During the fall, the sheet displaced revealing the face of one of the unfortunate souls. Staring back at him was Curt.

* * *

The more Carlos looked at the text message, the more the bad feeling crept up his spine. He couldn't take it anymore so he called out to Detective Watson down the hallway.

"What is it, Carlos?"

He paused for a moment, then spoke. "I lied before."

"What do you mean?"

"Me, Dustin, Kendall and Logan got this text message earlier tonight," he said as he handed it to the redhead.

"God dammit," she cursed as she pulled out her walkie. "Jarrad? Have you heard back from Sammy? Well, cancel the search. The perp is at the studio." She shot Carlos a glare as she walked away.

He walked back to James' room and plopped down in an empty chair. He dropped his head into his hands and let out a worried sigh. If anything happened to his friends, he didn't know how he would live with himself. One of them was already in a coma because of him. He felt the weight of the entire world on his shoulders and he couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

* * *

James stirred in his bed. It was pitch black which scared him, but he soon realized his eyes were closed. He tried to open them, but found it to be too hard a task. He was tired. So, so tired. He wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but someone was crying. He couldn't stand it. The crying was grating on his nerves.

"Jeez. Will you quit your blubbering? I'm trying to fucking sleep here."

Carlos and David both shot up from their seats and were by James' side in an instant.

"James?" Carlos croaked. "You're awake!"

* * *

Dustin pressed the barrel of his gun into Logan's back forcing him onto the living room set. He immediately saw Kendall's unconscious form laying on the floor. He started to run towards the blond, but Dustin pulled him back by grabbing the collar of his shirt.

"I wouldn't make any sudden moves, _Logie_," Dustin said giving a disgusted emphasis on the nickname given to him by Kendall. "You wouldn't want to startle me. I might accidentally shoot you in the head."

Logan froze and didn't move again until Dustin pushed him forward with the gun. When they finally reached Kendall's body, Logan was pushed harshly to the floor, his head connecting with the corner of the coffee table. This left a large bleeding gash on the side of his head but he didn't lose consciousness. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

He sat up and brought his hand to his wound, wincing at the touch. He looked towards Kendall trying to see if he had been hurt in any way. Dustin could see the concern in his eyes which infuriated him.

"Don't even _think_ about touching him," he spat at Logan.

While keeping the gun pointed at the smaller boy, Dustin bent down and broke a package of smelling salts under Kendall's nose. The blonde quickly shot up, looking around in confusion The last thing he remembered was walking down a dark hallway and then a sharp, shooting pain in the back of his head before everything went black. Now he was on set with a killer headache. He saw Logan to his left with blood dripping down his cheek.

"Logan, are you-"

"Shut up, Kendall." Dustin said interrupting him. That's when Kendall noticed Dustin pointing the gun at Logan.

"What's going on, Dustin? What are you doing?"

"What's going on? What's going on?" Dustin started laughing one of those angry but crazy laughs. "I'll tell you what's going on. You. Fucking. Replaced. Me." He poked Kendall in the chest with his gun to emphasize each word.

"Replaced you? What the hell are you talking about, Dustin?"

"I'm supposed to be your best friend. We always stick together. But as soon as he," Dustin points the gun indicating Logan, "came in to your life everything changed."

Kendall started to speak but Dustin stopped him. "No. Don't try to deny it, Kendall. First you join a new band. You're in the studio all the time with them. Did you forget about _our _band, Kendall?"

"No, of course not. I-"

"When's the last time we recorded something? Or even just fooled around with our guitars together? Do you remember? Because I sure as hell don't." He started pacing. "And honestly, I can understand that. You got a legit job. A tv series that takes up a lot of your time. I can't expect you to put me before your career. But replacing me? How could you do that, Kendall? How could you fucking do that to me?"

"Dustin, I could never replace you."

"But you did, Kendall. You did. You replaced me with this loser. Logan Fucking Henderson."

"So that's what this whole thing has been about? You're jealous of Logan?"

There were tears in his eyes now and he pulled at his hair in frustration. "You just don't get it, do you, Kendall?" Dustin shook his head in disbelief. "He'll _never _love you as much as I do. Never. You have to know that."

"Kendall and I are just-"

"Don't even start with me Henderson!"

Kendall didn't know what to say. His mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of something to calm Dustin down. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Dustin cock the gun. He saw it was pointed directly at him and he looked up at him with pleading eyes. Dustin met his gaze and narrowed his eyes. It took him only a second to make his decision before he changed direction and he pulled the trigger.

Logan felt an intense burning in his chest. He looked down and all he saw was blood. He brought his hand up to his chest, trying to make the bleeding stop. He tried to speak but only a blood splattering cough came out. He started to feel dizzy and swayed a few times before falling over.

"Logan!" Kendall screamed. He started to crawl towards him, but was stopped when Dustin kicked him in the stomach. "Who are you?" he asked through tears. "Who are you because my best friend would never do something like this."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have replaced him," Dustin said with all the hatred coursing through his veins as he cocked his gun.

A shot rang out.

Kendall closed his eyes and waited for the pain, but it never came. He opened his eyes and saw Dustin on the floor. Kendall was confused until he saw Detective Watson step out of a shadow.

"Suspect down. One severely injured civilian. Need two buses," Jamie said into her walkie. She checked the boy's pulse before cuffing his hands behind him. He was unconscious, but alive. "Are you okay Kendall?"

He ignored the question, standing up and running directly to Logan's side. He cradled the smaller boy in his arms. "Logan? Logan, buddy?"

His eyes fluttered open slowly. "K-Kendall?" Logan coughed out. "Kendall, I-"

"Shhhh. Don't speak, Logie. Save your strength. It's gonna be okay."

Sirens could be heard in the background as the rescue squad grew closer.

"It's gonna be okay," Kendall repeated. And somehow he knew it would be.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me. Because some people like to browse reviews before reading a story, I would appreciate if you would exclude the name of the killer in your comments. I don't want anyone to be spoiled!**

**A semi/sort of sequel is planned for this. More like a companion piece. I plan on re-telling the story but from the killer's point of view. This will answer a lot of the questions of how and when and why. **

**For those of you that know me, you should have known this all boiled down to Logan. It's always about Logan when it comes to me, right? So does the title make sense to you now? Logan was the replacement!**


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